Can Indians Vote?
Yes. Indians have the same right to vote as other U.S. citizens. In 1948, the Arizona Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional disenfranchising interpretation of the State constitution. Thus Indians were permitted to vote as in most other States. A 1953 Utah State law stated that persons living on Indian reservations were not residents of the State and could not vote. That law was subsequently repealed. In 1954, Indians in Maine who were not then Federally recognized were given the right to vote, and in 1962, New Mexico extended the right to vote to Indians. Indians also vote in State and local elections and in their affiliated tribal elections. Each tribe, however, determines which of its members are eligible to vote in its elections. This qualification to do so is not related to the individual Indian’s right to vote in national, State or local (non-Indian) elections.
